I'll start by giving some background information on myself. Hi, I'm Miss S! I graduated from the University of Wolverhampton in 2017, with a 2:1 in History. I took a year out to work (retail), save some money and take a break, before I began my journey into teaching. So now it's September 2018, I'm enrolled onto the PGDipED Secondary History course at the University of Birmingham, I have no idea what I have got myself into....
Those first two weeks at university were intense, so much information and so little of it made sense! My mentor at the university, seems to know what he is talking about and the other trainees are lovely (they're in the same panicked state as me, which makes me feel better). It's definitely all becoming real, now that I've been given my first placement school. My initial, yet thorough FBI style search of the school, has filled me with dread. Ofsted deem it as 'Requires Improvement' in all areas, the google reviews brand the school/teachers as racists, a fellow trainee knows someone who worked at the school and said it was dreadful, that the kids are awful and according to one article the former head teacher bribed the students to do well in exams... it's safe to say I'm bricking it.
First day in the school, I'm apprehensions. I really don't know what to expect. This truly is my first real experience of being on the other side of the classroom and this doesn't seem like a easy school to start in. But I think that's what I need, if I don't take the training wheels off from the get go and get stuck in, I never will. I had previously met my mentor at the university, so I had an idea of what she was like, she seemed nice - I was in good hands (I think, I hope). That day and most of the first week consisted of shadowing her and other teachers that I would be working with, observing them, taking notes - seeing what strategies they used, what worked, what didn't, what I thought I could implement. But I wasn't just observing them, I was observing the students I was going to teach as well!
I did my first bit of 'teaching' on Wednesday and Thursday, I did starter activities (the ever so controversial word search and a quiz) with one of my Year 7 groups. I think for a first attempt, it went well - obviously it was not perfect by any means, but the ripping of the plaster was officially done. There was no going back now! So next week (my second week) I will start teaching some full lessons, and pick up a class or two a week, I'll be full on my full timetable (10 hours) by half term (week 5).
So.... I was supposed to update this weekly and do a round up, as I went along on my journey, but I royally failed at that. Placement number 1, is officially over! Here are my reflections....
I'll start with what I taught and to whom:
- Year 7 (A3 & C2): Medicine/ surgery through time
- Year 8 (A1): End of the British Raj and Slavery
- Year 9 (B5): End of Castro/Cuba and Vietnam War/Cambodian Genocide
- Year 9 (C3): WW2
It is safe to say the school is painted in a bad light on the Internet, however it is much less scary in the light of day. It is an RI school, so I won't sit here and write that it's perfect, areas of the school do need improvement, but I was able to see the efforts that are being made to make those improvement.
I would say behaviour is one the schools major issues. I was generally shielded from the 'worst' of the schools behaviour, that's not to say I wasn't given an variety of classes with varying abilities and behaviour - but I didn't experience that aspect of the school in it's full. However saying that, behaviour management was my key focus throughout my placement. The general types of 'bad' behaviour I encountered was: disruption to learning (refusing to do a task, excessive chatting), the other was rudeness, not necessarily to me (although their were the odd occasions), but more so to each other.
As I said behaviour management was key, it determined how a lesson was going to go for me. I would to think by the end, I was something that I begging to enforce well. Classes that I had for longer, knew what my expectations were and so the behaviour management aspect became easier. But what I learned very quickly was that, the behaviour was determined day by day, lesson by lesson in most cases, some classes were consistent with bad behaviour. Period 5 with a C band set could be painful and was painful for a long time, until I learned to adapt that lesson: short sharp tasks, a lot of verbal quizzing, constantly keeping them focused. That lesson was often teach led, extremely tiring but it meant that the lesson could still be successful and not a write off. Whereas Period 5 with an A band set, was completely the opposite, yes their energy was slight depleted but the would still complete tasks and work with he same rigour as Period 1. That's not to say that the bands determine behaviour, behaviour issues are spread across the bands. The point is no class, lesson, student is the same and their moods and motivations change throughout the day. One event in the day or the week would change the dynamic of the class entirely, I often had to play referee.
Although the behaviour was challenging, I was always supported in (when asked for) and outside of the classroom by the staff and the wider department when needed. I am very grateful to have been placed in a school, where the department are so supportive of one another. I truly feel privileged enough to have worked with the teachers, that I did. The skills and feedback I obtained from them, I will take with me not only into placement 2, but throughout my career. They all had different strategies, teaching styles, experiences and generally things that worked for them, it is safe to say I walked away learning something from each. Especially in the last few weeks, when they started to run their own inter-departmental CPD sessions, those CPD sessions were so valuable. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to implement what I had learned from them there, but I will definitely be trying them out in placement 2 - especially with KS4.
Oh, I also had a Year 9 form that I would lead once a week: I was initially supposed to cover Growth Mindset, but it was extremely repetitive and they were not responding well to it. So I ended up making my own PowerPoint for it, I did some reading (The Hobbit) and two of the boys wanted to set up a football sweep stake, which I helped them implement. As well, as the usual responsibilities: getting them in the classroom, taking registers, equipment and uniform checks and taking them down to assembly. All in all, they were a lovely form, some 'characters' but generally well behaved during form time at least. As for regrets, I should have taken up more responsibility with them.
That's a general round up of my placement.... I've been having a think of specifics things that went well and even better if.....
Subject Knowledge
- WWW: I made sure that I was on top it! A lot of the topics I taught I didn't actually didn't have any prior knowledge on, I had to learn them before I taught them (Castro/Cuba, Vietnam War, Cambodian Genocide/Pol Pot). Despite this I thoroughly enjoyed researching all the topics I taught and I tried bring that enjoyment across throughout the lesson I taught.
- EBI: Dates/Chronology - needs work!! I need to create some time lines on the next SOWs I teach
Lesson planning/adapting:
- WWW: I created about 80% of my lessons from scratch. This allowed me to tailor the lessons to my teaching style, and to the students. A lot of trial and error with tasks, but that's part of the process of finding what works
- EBI: Try to cut the down time it takes to create a lesson. Even if a lesson is given to me, I need to adapt it (some of my worst lessons, were me teaching lessons other teachers had planned). WRITE LESSON PLANS, AS YOU PLAN THE LESSON!
Behaviour:
- WWW: definitely found my voice towards the end, the 'it's what you say, rather than how loud you say it' approach is definitely preferred though. Trialling out strategies- finding what works
- EBI: for next placement set out expectations from day 1. Praise more - very effective in stopping the bad behaviour. Consistency. Make more phone calls to parents good/bad
Knowing the pupils
- WWW: Made great personal relationships, which allowed me to make lessons and task around the students - especially with the smaller classes
- EBI: Knowing all the pupils (personally, but also on paper), difficult task but a necessary one! Getting all their data, so I can target interventions/differentiate alongside with my professional judgment
On a final note, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the school, the staff and (most of) the students contributed to that. I've learned a lot, a lot I didn't get to implement at the school, due to me being overwhelmed by all the entire experience. But, now I have had time to take it all in, comprehend and dissect everything, I have clear targets set for placement 2.
That's a wrap, on placement 1!!